I Heart Radio
by DrHenryKillenger
Summary: When two very different people, from two very different backgrounds, find common ground with one another, its starts something no one could have seen coming, and no one can control. But will it lead to something wonderful, or will they crash and burn? NaruSasuNaru, AU, Rated for Language and lemons down the road. My first fic, so be gentle ; )
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So here it is, the revised version of chapter 1, sorry it took me so long guys, but I had to deal with _unexpectedly_ having to move out of my apartment, but I wont bore you guys with my IRL drama. Now that I'm kind of settled in, I can get back to working on this story more regularly, I promise :P

* * *

**Chapter 1: A Long Time Coming**

They say that the best things come when you least expect them. In forms you would never anticipate, places you would never suspect, and events you could never dream of.

Uzumaki Naruto certainly hadn't thought when he woke up that morning, covered in hickeys and a dried layer of sweat and… _other _bodily fluids, that he would remember this day for the rest of his life. No, instead, a lazy grin came across his face as he slowly and carefully removed himself from around his bed mate, snatching a pen and paper from his bedside drawer he wrote a brief, but polite, note for the bed's sole remaining occupant, and left it where he was sure they would find it, stuck to their forehead. Returning the pen and pad of paper to their original spot in his drawer he made his way into the bathroom, a shower was LONG overdue at this point.

Walking as if in a trance, shaking off the dregs of sleep from his mind, he entered the room and turned on the light; absentmindedly reaching towards the medicine cabinet for his toothbrush. Upon closing it, the mirror came back into view, giving him a chance to see the extent of his "battle scars".  
Little red welts dotted his left collarbone, trailing up to the juncture of his neck and his ear, his flaxen hair falling into his eyes and poking up all over the place, a satisfied smirk on his face, giving him the appearance of a wild man, not that he would necessarily argue with the nickname, because it was pretty much true anyways, at least from certain _perspectives_. His eyes were a dull blue, still not quite up to their fully awakened gleam, and surrounded by the dregs of his sleep, still yet to have been washed from his body.  
That thought snapped him out of his indolence, shedding the boxers he'd put on all of 30 seconds ago when he got out of the bed, he turned on the shower, letting it heat up while he brushed his teeth.

After completing his morning rituals, he exited his bathroom chased by a cloud of steam, reaching out as if to drag him back in. Upon reentering his bedroom, he saw said bed had been vacated, recently by the looks of it too. Sure enough, as if waiting for their cue, he heard the front door slam shut. Shrugging to himself, he proceeded to get dressed.

It's not like it was his problem, he made it _very_ clear the night before he wasn't looking for anything serious, in fact, the way what's-his-name (He thought it might have been something like Yama, or Yoshida, definitely Y-something, but he didn't spare it much thought) kept probing him last night, it was obvious he was trying to push for something more permanent, which was a stupid decision in general when you're picking people up at clubs anyways if you asked Naruto. But, by the time he met him last night, he was too fucked up to care, and just wanted to get his rocks off. Though in all honesty he kind of wished he could see the guy's face when he called "his" number and got "Thor's Hotline" instead.

Taking a glance at the clock on his dresser, Naruto sighed and laid back on his bed, he had about an hour before work, he cast a tired look at his bedside table, the same one he'd retrieved the pen and paper from earlier, though this time he was looking at the drawer below that one, the one with a lock on it. Biting his lower lip in mild anxiety, he finally caved, grabbing his keys off the top of the stand he found the one he was looking for, unlocked the drawer and pulled it open.

Reaching into his bedside drawer Naruto pulled out a small hand size mirror, a razorblade, and a Ziploc baggie filled with about 6 grams of blow. Sitting up he placed the items on the bed to the left of him, and looked around stupidly for a minute until with a burst of inspiration he pulled a $5 out of his wallet and rolled it up then began cutting himself a few lines, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity.

Now, to be fair, Naruto wasn't usually into hard drugs, he drank semi-regularly, and bought the occasional half-ounce of piff for special occasions, but lately the stress from work had him looking for something a little more _relieving_. He worked a low income job as the morning news reader for WKPB Radio, and while normally, he loved going into work, even at the stupidly early hours of the morning they asked of him, his boss, a man by the name of Ebisu, was making him lose his fucking mind. Needing to relax even moreso than usual, led Naruto from his casual bars, into the seedier clubs he usually only went to once in a blue moon to score (both sexually and narcotically) much more frequently, and when his "buddy" (and Naruto used that term very loosely) offered to sell him some on the cheap to put some pep back in his step, his stress made him finally cave.

Putting his the baggie and other items back in his drawer and locking it once more, Naruto allowed himself to fully lay on his bed once more, his blown-out pupils staring at his ceiling fan in mild interest while he gave himself a little internal pep-talk. He decided that he didn't want to get any more coke once he'd finished what he had (he was far too cheap to just throw out something so expensive after all) the stuff was _far_ too enjoyable, and Naruto did _not_ want to cross the line from "user" to "abuser".

His mind going a mile a minute Naruto let his mind wander while he rode out his high, that is, until he finally tore his eyes from the hypnotically lethargic spinning of his ceiling fan and looked at the clock on his bedside table. With a decidedly unmanly shriek he bolted out of bed and began running in circles around his room looking for work clothes.

"-fucking high is only supposed to last like a half hour, now I have like 15 minutes to get to work. Oh fuck, like I need to give that prick any more reasons to give me shit, being late will be like a goddamn Christmas present." Naruto cursed at himself as he wrestled on his slacks and grabbed a _mostly_ unwrinkled auburn dress shirt from off the back of his computer chair.

Running through his kitchen he slipped his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and began to button the shirt single handedly while he slammed a bowl of instant ramen in his microwave with the other. Tapping his foot impatiently while he waited for the telltale "ding" of his microwave Naruto was going through a heavily abriged checklist in his head, trying to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything else for work. Snatching his ramen from the microwave as soon as it was safe Naruto dashed to the coat rack by his door, slipping on his shoes, not bothering to grab a jacket and bolted out the building to his car.

Getting his his car he put the keys in the ignition, put his ramen into one of the cupholders, and paused to give himself a minute to get his bearings, no sense in showing up for a stressful day of work already stressed out after all. Glancing at the clock on his dash Naruto, now much more calm than he was a minute ago, started his card and headed off towards the radio station.

Five minutes later found Naruto flying down the highway in his station wagon, grinning like a maniac and singing at the top of his lungs, like some insane karaoke rooster, as if it was his mission to wake up all of Suna, which, considering his job, it kind of _was_.

"HEART OF AN EAGLE, HE FLIES THROUGH THE RAINBO-OW, INTO A NEW WORLD AND FINDS THE-E SUUUUUUUN, SPREADING HIS WINGS ABOVE ALL OF THE SOR-ROWS, THE GLOOOORY OF E-E-EEEAGLEHEAAAAART"

Pulling off the highway Naruto almost pouted as he lowered the volume on his stereo and made the turn around the corner, he could see the building now, and despite all the stress it had been causing him lately the sight of it made his already blinding grin crack a little wider.

He couldn't help it, though he never would have thought it when he first started, Naruto truly loved what he did, well, not actually what he was doing _now_, reading news every morning like a drone wasn't exactly fun, but it was the experience. Sure, radio might have been a bit of an outdated media outlet these days, but the fact that jockeys had a forum to express their ideas openly to the public, and that listeners could actually call in to add their own thoughts to the mix, was almost intoxicating to him, it was better than any drug he could buy off the street or in a club.

Parking his car in the garage below the station he stole a glance around the lot to see if there was anyone else loitering around. Deciding the coast was clear Naruto popped open his glove box and retrieved a pack of Parliaments, opening the pack he pulled out a cigarette and a dime bag, he was still coasting on his high from before, but he knew the second he walked in those doors his boss would be up his ass with a magnifying glass, knowing he could hide the signs of his mental state well enough he was more concerned with making sure he didn't crash while on the air or something equally as terrible, he quickly packed a bump into the hollow of the filter, then returned everything to its proper place and headed towards the garage exit.

* * *

So far, so good, he surprisingly hadn't seen a hair of Ebisu all morning, he was already finished with his morning news report, and was actually already clocked out, but he was in no rush and he and his coworker, Maito Gai, had a mutual understanding. Gai knew Naruto enjoyed sticking around sometimes and listening in on his afternoon segment, he didn't see the harm in it, in fact, he was rather flattered that someone as youthful as Naruto would rather be spending his time listening to him blather on than go out-skirt chasing.

"So who are you interviewing today Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked eagerly once the older man had turned off his mic.

"A young man by the name of Hirito Yoshigi-san, he's written a fascinating book about pop-culture trends that's been blowing up ever since he put it out, and he's only a freshman in college as well… the tireless ambition of youth is truly inspiring Naruto-kun, AH! I can't help it, I must go find my dearest nephew Lee, to sit down and witness such a youthful display would be the highlight of his day as well!" And with that, Gai was gone, that is, until he poked his head back in the room about 3 seconds later.

"Oh, and Naruto-kun, if you would be so kind, Yoshigi-san should be here any time now, if he gets back before Lee and I return, please keep him entertained will you?"

Already well acclimated to his coworker's antics Naruto cracked a reassuring smile "Don't worry bushy-brows, no one can resist the patented Uzumaki charm" giving a highly over-enthusiastic thumbs up in response, Gai bolted back down the hallway without another word.

Ten minutes later and Naruto was deep in concentration, trying to balance a pen on the tip of his nose whist simultaneously balancing the chair on its hind legs. His other coworker, Shikamaru, in the record booth, looked on in bored amusement, calculating to himself the probability that Naruto would fall backwards and crack his head open on the floor behind him versus falling forwards and smacking his chin on the desk and likely biting off his tongue, when the door suddenly came flying open and smacked against the wall of the studio.

Naruto shrieked in surprise, the momentum of trying to rotate to see who'd come in caused him to fall off his chair sideways, his flailing arms scrabbling at the table to try and prevent a total wipeout, but he only succeeded in smacking his arm painfully into the mic before collapsing on the floor in a pathetic heap.

'_Damn_ _unexpected variables_' Shikamaru thought to himself, nonetheless chuckling at his friend's awe-inspiring stupidity.

Groaning in pain Naruto tried to collect himself '_Damn it bushy-brows, I'm going to kick your ass for this'_ but he heard a panicked voice from above that definitely didn't belong to Gai, or Lee for that matter.

"Oh my! I'm sorry if I startled you Gai-sensei, I know I'm still a bit early, are you okay?" he heard the voice say '_Ah, so it's that Yoshigi guy, great, that's even worse, now I've made myself look like a retard in front of some genius college student to boot' _with a groan, Naruto picked himself up off the floor.

"It's okay Yoshigi-san, it was my fault, and I'm not Gai-sensei by the way, my name is Narut-" but when he looked towards the other man his jaw hit the floor.

"YOU!" they both exclaimed simultaneously, apparently he wasn't the only one surprised to be standing in front of the guy he screwed into his mattress last night.

Hirito recovered before Naruto however, and his expression quickly morphed from one of shock to one of rage.

"You SON of a BITCH! Did you think that stunt you pulled on me was fucking funny?!" the man shrieked "I spend the whole night with your drunken ass and all I get is a note, stuck to my fucking forehead, saying 'hey, thanks for the lay, now please be out of my apartment before I get out of the shower?' and to top it all off, that "number" you gave me was even worse! 'Thor's thought's on the weather?', 'Tips for successfully raiding a village'? I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"

By now Naruto had finally collected his jaw off the floor and made sure to place the desk in-between himself and his irate one-night stand "Listen you prick" Naruto said "I made it _very_ clear several times last night that I wasn't looking for something serious, and if it was such a chore to put up with me all night you should have just gone back to your book club and cried about it over cheap coffee with your 40 year old menopausal girlfriends, you certainly weren't complaining when I had my cock shoved up your ass, that's for sure" Naruto finished smugly, then turned to Shikamaru "Shika, can you believe this jackass?" but the sight he was met with surprised him yet again, the normally expressionless and calm man had a look of pure horror on his face, seeing Naruto's confusion, he managed to jankily point at the table behind him.

Following the direction of Shikamaru's finger, Naruto looked over at the desk and nearly shat himself, the mic was on, he just broadcasted that whole argument directly over the radio.

"Oh… FUCK!" Naruto quickly slammed his finger on the "off" button and proceeded to have a mental breakdown.

"Oh fuck, oh fuckohfuckofuckfuckfuck" he chanted, gripping his head and hoping the floor would swallow him up and drag him to hell already. Hirito was in no better shape, he was staring wide-eyed at the microphone like it had just come to life and started tap-dancing across the table, on the upside, he was so shocked he stopped throwing his bitch-fit though.

Approximately 5 seconds later the door slammed open once more, incidentally beaming the shell-shocked Hirito in the side of the head, and in stomped the absolute _last_ person Naruto wanted to see at the moment, his boss, Ebisu. The man didn't need to say a word, his face said it all, he crooked a finger at Naruto and walked off without another word, the blond following behind him lamely, like a horse about to be put out to pasture.

All the way up the two floors to Ebisu's office he was the subject of incredulous stares and quiet murmuring '_what is this? Fucking high school?_' he thought to himself.

Once inside his office, Ebisu closed and locked the door behind him, drawing the shades and sat behind his desk clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on the desk as if in prayer. Silence reigned in the office, and Naruto did _not_ want to be the one to break it, however, after five straight minutes of nothing, his impatience got the better of him.

"So eh… I'm guessing I'm fired then?" He said with a pained chuckle, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"You're damn right you are…" Ebisu bit back immediately "Do you have any idea, ANY idea AT ALL, how much damage you just did?" he said, finally bringing some of his anger to the surface.

"Not only did you broadcast your sodomy over public radio, but you outed an up-and –coming author, we'll be lucky if he doesn't sue us for defamation of character, a lawsuit he would invariably win by the way. Speaking of lawsuits, we'll probably be hearing from some of the lawyers of our listeners as well, no doubt about how their kids heard all about you 'shoving your cock' in another man's ass this morning. So yeah, I would say you're in some pretty deep shit Uzumaki" Ebisu said, sounding _far _too calm considering what he was talking about.

Thus began the worst day of Naruto Uzumaki's life.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Still getting used to the weird formatting on this site lol. So here's Chapter 2, I'm still doing my retouches of Chapter 1 right now, but I figured I would post what I've got so far. I guess this would be a good time to mention this story is going to have alternating POV's, switching back and forth between Sasuke and Naruto with each chapter, I like this format because it lets me show two different perspectives for certain events and kind of artificially extends the story that way as well. (PS, Sasuke's chapters are going to frequently have song lyrics posted in them, there's a hint in this chapter as to what "his" band will be, it's not exactly super hidden but props to whoever guesses it first lol)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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**Chapter 2 – Undertow****  
**

People have a funny habit of (whether they know it or not) being their own worst enemies. We shoulder the weight of our own minds, our weaknesses, fears, and inadequacies. This weight can easily break a man, but to shoulder the burden can make you strong as well. To Sasuke Uchiha, the weight of his "Familial Duty" wore on his shoulders like the weight of the entire universe, like some perverse impression of Atlas.

The waiting room in the ICU at Oto General reeked of disinfectant. The invasive and frankly offending odor did very little to improve Sasuke's mood, he'd been waiting out here for the past hour and a half for his mother to finish up, and the nurses nearby were beginning to drive him mad, not that you would know it by looking at him. There were two of them, standing by the desk appearing for all intents and purposes, to be going over paperwork. But a distinctively excited, yet hushed chattering reached the Uchiha's ears, and he could practically feel their eyes raping him. All these factors combined left the usually stoic Uchiha almost… _fidgety_.

Another agonizing twenty or so minutes later, Sasuke finally saw his mother coming back down the hall.

"Everything go all right mother?" Sasuke asked, his calm demeanor not betraying the anxiety and impatience he truly felt. Raising to meet his mother, then taking the handles of her wheelchair as they began making their way out of the building.

"Everything is fine, I only needed an update to my prescription, the doctor just thought it was a good idea to check for some other things since I was already there, I'm sorry you had to wait so long Sasuke" Mikoto said apologetically

"Hn" was Sasuke's only response as they reached the car, Sasuke helping his mother into the passenger seat, folding her chair and placing it across the back seats and making his way around to the driver side. The slamming of the car door was like a gunshot, followed by eerie silence as Sasuke sat, quiet, as if deep in thought, Mikoto on the other hand, seemed apprehensive, almost as if she was aware of her son's train of thought.

It wasn't actually that hard to guess. 15 years ago Mikoto suffered a severe brain hemorrhage during a fundraising event being held at their family estate. While the doctors were able to prevent any severe brain damage from the incident, it left her permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Normally for the sake of keeping the peace, this was seldom brought up unless necessary, because it tended to draw out quite a bit of ugliness from every member of the household. Having been subjected to taking his mother to the hospital to get her legs checked on gave Sasuke plenty of time to brood over it, and Mikoto was sure he had something to say, and it wasn't pleasant. Not being able to stand the silence any longer, Mikoto attempted to diffuse the situation.

"You know Sasuke, we _do_ have chauffeurs, you didn't need to take time out of your day to bring me here" Mikoto said quietly.

"Please mother, I couldn't care less about some stupid business classes, this was much more important to me" Sasuke said, his voice sounding strained.

"But Sasuke dear, you know how your father is, you need top marks in your classes so you can inherit Itachi's position in the company once your father steps down" his mother replied.

And there it was, the one disgusting truth about his life, the weight that was crushing his back every day for the past 17 years, he was nothing more than a glorified understudy. Since he was old enough to write he'd been corralled into the position expected of him as Uchiha Fugaku's second son. He was forced to learn, to be perfect, unlike his brother Itachi, to whom brilliance came naturally, Sasuke had to work himself to the bone to keep to his father's expectations of him. The saddest part being, that unless for some unimaginable reason Itachi stepped down from his position, or became unfit for it in some way, it was all pointless anyways, he was just the family business' "back-up plan".

"I don't give a damn about father's expectations anymore mother" Sasuke said with an air of finality "In fact, I haven't cared for a long time, I'm not going to let him shape my life for me, then just toss me out once he realizes he doesn't need me anyways"

"Your father wouldn't do that Sasuke" Mikoto said, but there was no strength to her words "We both love you very much, and we just want to see you successful"

"If you call _that_ love mother, I think you need to go back inside and see the doctor again…" Sasuke bit out.

"Why?" Sasuke asked quietly "Why do you still _love_ him? Why do you let yourself be chained to that bastard even after everything he's done to you? To _us_?" he looked at his mother imploringly, he needed to know, to understand _why_ his mother let his father do this to her, to them. The cause of her brain hemorrhage was deemed a hereditary issue, but Sasuke knew the truth.

* * *

_Ten year old Sasuke awoke with a jolt. Short of breath and trembling he paused to catch his breath and gather himself together, his big brother Itachi told him the other day that a 'Proper Uchiha' always be strong and mature, and being scared of a silly dream was definitely not mature in Sasuke's opinion. As he laid down to go back to sleep he heard a crash from down the hall. Curious, Sasuke lowered his covers and made his way out of bed and out, into the darkness of the hallway._

_As he made his way towards what he thought was the source of the noise, over towards his parents' bedroom, he gradually began to hear muffled shouting coming from behind their door. He couldn't make out the words, but his father sounded furious, more furious than he'd ever heard him before, and his mother sounded near hysterics. Suddenly very nervous as he stood before their door, he knew already that making himself known to his parents would be a bad idea, but he was also incredibly curious as to what they were arguing about, as well as what that loud noise was, when all of a sudden, there was another lound bang and the yelling just… stopped. Now unable to cease his curiosity he cracked the door open, as quietly as he could, and what he saw then would give him _real_ nightmares for years to come._

_His mother was sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall staring at the ground silently, a small trail of blood falling from the corner of her mouth, his father was sitting facing her on the edge of the bed, a half-finished cigarette resting in his hand propped casually on his knee._

_"Mikoto" he heard his father say sternly, finally drawing his wife's gaze again, he stood up, and walked over towards her. Kneeling before her he cruelly gripped Mikoto by the hair, pulling her right up to his face, Sasuke could see his father whisper something into her ear with a sadistic look on his face. Receiving no response from whatever it was he said to her, Fugaku's face darkened, he reared back, and punched his wife full force in the side of her head. The force of the blow was so great that she flew sideways and collided with their dresser, collapsing on the floor at the foot of the dresser without so much as a sound._

_Sasuke ran. He ran back to his room as quickly and as quietly as he could. Sitting upright in his bed, Sasuke didn't sleep another wink of sleep the rest of the night, or the following week. Life in the Uchiha household, and in the Uchiha family, changed after that._

* * *

Shaking the memories from his head, Sasuke turned the ignition, starting the car, but did no more, resting his hands back in his lap, he waiting for a reply, for _anything _really, he just couldn't take it anymore.

"I… I know how it looks Sasuke, but Fugaku isn't the monster you think he is, he works himself to the bone, to the point of near hysteria, to provide for us" Mikoto said shakily.

Nothing but bitter laughter, almost manic, was his response.

"_Provide for us_? You have _got_ to be kidding me" Sasuke turned to look his mother in the eye, or he would have, but Mikoto's downcast gaze refused to meet his own. "A man who works two jobs to put food on the table and put his kids through school is 'providing for his family', someone who forsakes his own wife and children to go build an empire is _not_ noble, we're nothing more than employees to him"

Sasuke finally peeled out of the hospital parking lot, making his way out and towards "home". As he came to a red light a few minutes later, he took in his mother's appearance. His words had shaken her, he could tell, she was chewing her bottom lip anxiously, looking everywhere in the car and outside, anywhere except at him, she still wouldn't meet his gaze, and still hadn't said a word in reply. It made him feel horrible, he truly loved his mother after all, but someone needed to tell her what she needed to hear.

The rest of the half hour drive to their estate was in complete silence, both Uchiha's brooding silently at this point. Sasuke's car pulled up to a large wrought iron gate, ominous in appearance the gate stood some 15 feet tall, ornate enough to convey a sense of wealth, but simple enough for its intended function. Reaching through his window Sasuke punched in the combination to unlock the gate, it opened silently, no squeaking of metal joints or scraping against the stone it was set against, almost as if it sensed the atmosphere around it. Pulling through the gate Sasuke headed up the stone driveway, passing rows of organized and well maintained Birch trees and rose bushes as he made his way up to the circular driveway in front of the manor.

To say the estate was large and grandiose would be an understatement, it stood four floors the front dotted with large elegant windows framed by burgundy shutters, the front of the house was surrounded in more of the same rose bushes that lined the drive up, wrapping all around the house and leading back to the large garden in the rear of the estate. The front door was sequestered behind a row of thick pillars, simple in design, yet they always purveyed a message to the youngest Uchiha, the place was a glorified prison.

Taking the key from the ignition and unbuckling his seat belt, Sasuke let out a deep sigh.

"Look mother, I'm not doing this anymore, I don't know what direction I want to take with my life, but I know it isn't _this_" Sasuke said, gesturing to the manor standing imposingly before them.

"What will you do then Sasuke? Your father won't be content to let you run around and merely do as you please, we all know that" Mikoto said, the pain in her voice behind that statement echoed of past, personal experience, she too had once been a bird seeking the freedom of the skies, but she had become content within her caged walls.

"I'll find my own way, no matter how difficult it might be, it'll be better than living as I am now" Sasuke spoke with pure confidence and conviction "But mother please, I can't rest easy knowing how he still makes you suffer, please come with me, let this asshole rot like he deserves"

"I-I…. I can't Sasuke, I'm sorry, but I have to support him, I know you only know the Fugaku of today, but he is truly a wonderful man, who has done so much for us, for _all_ of us" She said pointedly "And I refuse to abandon him, to betray his trust in such a way"

Silence reigned in the car once more, neither occupant knowing what to say after bearing such painful truths towards one another. Finally after an age and a half, Sasuke abruptly got out of the car, marching over to the back passenger side and retrieving his mother's wheelchair, he opened the door and aided his mother into the seat. A look passed between the two, no verbal communication needed, and soon enough, what was formally a terse and uncomfortable silence, became serene and peaceful, at least.

Before they reached the ramp leading up the the front door that was installed for Mikoto's convenience after the accident, Sasuke heard a sigh pass his mother's lips.

"Listen Sasuke, I understand what you feel you must do, I really do. But you have to understand, there are things I must do as well, and my place is here. I just want you to know, that whatever you decide to do, I will always love you my son" She spoke, unshed tears glistening in her eyes, eyes that would not meet her son's gaze out of sheer embarrassment.

Allowing himself a moment, Sasuke wrapped his arms around his mother's neck from behind, embracing her and leaving a quick tender kiss on the crown of her head. Maintaining said position for a few seconds longer, Sasuke straightened out, grabbing the handles of Mikoto's wheelchair once more, and leading them up to the door.

"I know mother. It just pains me to see what has- what will, become of you by staying here… but I cannot force you to do anything you do not wish to do yourself. I want you to know that no matter where I end up, or what I do with my life, you will always be in my thoughts"

And with that, both slipped the porcelain facades back onto their faces, Mikoto's one of serenity and contentedness, and Sasuke's one of cold indifference.

Before they'd even reached the front doors, as if on cue they slid open, operated by two of the many servants employed by the Uchiha family, without sparing them a glance Sasuke entered the foyer.

"Please bring me into the kitchen Sasuke, I wish to see what Choza has planned for dinner tonight" Mikoto spoke gently.

Cooking used to be one of Mikoto's favorite pastimes, however after her accident Fugaku hired Choza as the family's personal chef, leaving Mikoto with even less ways to keep herself involved. She could no longer garden either, which wounded her almost more than the loss of her cooking, she could no longer feel the soil under her knees, the sun on her back, and the sweat on her brow, Mikoto wasn't much more than a china doll any more.

Leaving his mother in the kitchen talking cheerfully to their rotund cook, Sasuke made his way towards his room. However it wasn't long until he ran into the last person he wanted to see at the moment, or ever quite frankly. If one didn't know him, you might think Fugaku didn't even notice Sasuke's presence, but to the youngest Uchiha, he may as well have been slammed up against a wall by the man.

"Father, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to dinner tonight. I have practice, my apologies" Sasuke said blankly.

"Spending more time with your silly garage band Sasuke? You should stop this foolishness already, I have your business classes for the next semester lined up, I had the course materials left in your room for you, you should spend your time more wisely" without another word Fugaku resumed his previous pace, not sparing his son a second glance.

Ignoring the unconscious clenching of his fists Sasuke made his way up to the third floor into his room, like the rest of the house, it was impeccably kept, stark white walls and a dominating sense of elegance, and if you were to ask the owner of said room, emptiness. Making his way over to his closet Sasuke retrieved his guitar case from within and made his way out of his room. Pausing at the doorway he noticed a small stack of papers left on his desk, snorting derisively Sasuke picked them up as well before he made his way out of his room, and shortly after, the manor itself.

Putting his guitar case in the passenger side Sasuke got into his car and peeled out of the driveway as if the house was on fire, in some respects he wished it was. Realizing he was still holding on to the 'study material' given to him by his father, Sasuke's lip curled in disgust. He pulled the staples out of the papers with one hand, then promptly tossed the thick stack of papers out of his driver's side window without a second thought.

Driving without a real purpose, Sasuke's mind wandered, he didn't actually have to meet up with his bandmates for another hour, he merely wanted to escape his prison sooner rather than later.

You could say that their band wasn't exactly serious, though it wasn't for lack of trying, at least on Sasuke's part. He knew that the other members of their group only thought of it as a way to pass the time, and for a couple of them he knew, merely as a way to get cozy to someone of high status like himself.

But to Sasuke, his music _was _his life, he was taught at a young age to never express outward emotion, that it was a sign of weakness, but through his writing, through singing and playing guitar, Sasuke found an outlet for all the emotions he had inside him that were approaching critical mass. That was his other problem though, Sasuke knew what he wanted to do with his life, he wanted to share his music with the world, show everyone that the Uchiha family wasn't as picture perfect as everyone thought they were, to show everyone that _yes_, he was human too. But he couldn't commit himself to his music if the other members of his group were not serious about it as well, yet at the same time, starting over from scratch with all new band members presented its own difficulties as well.

Glancing over at the clock on his dash Sasuke sighed quietly, he might as well make his way over there now, no reason to hold it off any longer. Sasuke's car pulled into a small quiet neighborhood, filled with single floor houses with small yards, and tacky things like garden gnomes in the front yard and picket fences, it was enough to make Sasuke feel almost _wistful_. He pulled up in front of a small house at the end of the road, three other cars already filling up the short driveway. Getting out of his car Sasuke noted the owner of said house was at the end of his driveway, leaning on his mailbox and sucking down a half-finished Paul Mall, the man gave him an appraising look and an unenergetic wave of the hand.

If there was one thing Sasuke liked about Kabuto, and it was very likely there was only the one thing, it was that Kabuto appeared to give no heed to his status, then again, Kabuto never seemed to give much heed to anything at all.

"You're here early, but everyone else is already here as well, so we may as well get started, head on in and I'll be right behind you" Kabuto said blanky, receiving barely more than a grunt from Sasuke in response as the Uchiha headed towards the garage door, not sparing his band mate a second glance.

Sasuke didn't know what he was going to do just yet, but he knew it needed to happen, and soon.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here we go, actual progress (w00t!), it seems it's only possible for me to post chapters after 2 AM xD anywho, this one's a bit shorter, I could have extended the end of the bar scene a bit, but I like where it ended (cliffhangers ftw) and I couldn't find anything meaningful to put in to extend it either, so you guys will just have to deal...

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or the lyrics posted in this chapter, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Maynard James Keenan respectively, I make no profit from this (I wish)

* * *

**Chapter 3: Calm Before the Shitstorm**

There was a cigarette burn on the roof of his car. Naruto had no idea where it came from or how long it'd been there, but that didn't stop him from staring at it for the past forty minutes in a stupor. This wasn't the first time he'd noticed it, in fact, the small black mark on the otherwise clean, smooth upholstery of his car had driven him mad on more than one occasion, but he usually dropped it after about a minute or two of wracking his brain, usually chuckling afterwards about how his sunroof now had a clitoris, attributing it in the end to a fleeting moment of drunken foolishness. But this time, after the long and painful walk back to his car proceeding his verbal beating at the hands of his boss- _ex _boss, Ebisu, he'd taken notice of it once again, however this time it seemed of the _utmost_ importance that he discern from where the accursed black mark came from immediately.

However no amount of staring would give him an answer, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn't really looking for one, all the same, the small black speck had him hypnotized for the better half of an hour. With a great heaving sigh, he sat up straight in his seat, a small empty baggie and a crushed cigarette pack falling into his lap. Staring at them for a few moments, still slightly in a daze, he irritably picked them up and dropped them outside of his driver's side window, no doubt directly on top of the small graveyard of cigarette butts that'd been accumulating there.

Naruto smacked his head against his steering wheel in frustration, letting out an almost piteous groan.

"Well fuck" He said to himself "Guess I better grab a copy of the paper so I can go through the classifieds now…" at that he moaned and smacked his head on the steering wheel again, job hunting was like drudging through a field of broken glass and he was _not_ looking forward to it in the least.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I never got a job at another radio station ever again after that stunt either" he said dejectedly, that, more than anything was what stung him. He'd genuinely loved his job, but it would be surprising if any station would want to hire someone who'd all but screamed profanities into a microphone like that, and he doubted they would be very forgiving or understanding of his situation either.

Deciding to finally stop moping around and feeling bad for himself Naruto sat up straight and pulled out of the parking garage under WKPB Radio for the last time, and drove off in the direction of his apartment. Pulling out his cell he dialed the number for his friend Kiba, he _definitely_ needed to get drunk tonight, once it was ringing he put the phone on speaker and put it in his lap, because the last thing he needed right now was a ticket from some asshole cop for talking while driving.

"Hey man, how's it hanging?" Kiba greeted nonchalantly once he picked up.

"Not very well dog-boy, I got sacked about an hour ago" Naruto admitted lamely.

"Ouch dude, what happened?" Kiba asked back apologetically "Scratch that, I won't ask, lemme guess, you wanna go out and drown your sorrows and need someone to cart your ass home afterwards?" He said lightheartedly, trying to gauge the blonde's mood.

"It's cool man, in all honesty I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't already on YouTube" Naruto said with a bitter chuckle at his own expense "Hey, maybe I'll get fabulously rich and famous from this, you never know, I'll be one of those YouTube celebrities like the Chocolate Rain guy or PSI" he finished, feeling a tiny bit better about the whole thing now.

Kiba laughed in response "That's the klutz I know, only you could cheer yourself up by making fun of yourself dude, I swear" they both snickered at that.

"I hate to say it, but I'm occupado for the night bro, Hinata's folks have me running laps right now trying to get everything ready for next month, and I do _not_ want to piss off her father…" He said, sounding genuinely upset he couldn't be there to cheer his best bud up at a time like this.

Hinata was Kiba's fiancée, beautiful girl, real sweet thing too, with tits the size of cantaloupes to boot. She had the biggest crush on Naruto when the three of them met in grade school, Kiba in turn, had a monster crush on her at the time as well. This caused a lot of fights between himself and Kiba at the time. Kiba wanted to prove himself better to Hinata in the only way children know how to, by beating the snot out of the person she likes. Naruto just needed an outlet for the anger built up in him from the teasing he'd suffered in school about his being a 'poor little orphan-boy'. Then puberty hit full swing, and Naruto discovered his sexuality.

After coming out to Hinata and letting her down gently, as gently as he could manage at least, he _was_ Hinata's first crush after all, and Naruto was going through some pretty confusing stuff at the time as well, so it actually got pretty messy, lots of crying and hugging and whatnot. After that the two of them became fast friends, so then he helped hook her and Kiba up, and the three of them have been inseparable ever since.

About a year ago Kiba, after stressing for months about it, as well as seriously pissing Naruto off about it by having the same damn conversations about it over and over again, he proposed to his girlfriend of seven years to marry him. She reacted about how they'd expected her to, squealing and jumping into her now-fiancé's arms and showering him in love and affection, Kiba looked like he was high off of it the entire time.

But Hinata herself wasn't the problem, after all, her and Kiba had been dating for years already, so it was to be expected. No, the problem was Hinata's family, the Hyuugas. Wealthy socialites that they are, Hinata's father never approved of her choice in partner, however seeing as he already had a protégé in the form of his nephew Neji, he never really got in the way, but marriage is a whole different deal. As expected, Hinata's father threw a fit, threatened to have Kiba arrested, and even whacked at one point, but they stood their ground, so instead of resorting to further threats, it seems Hiashi decided to just make Kiba's life a living hell, especially now, being that the big day was only one month away, in actuality, Naruto hadn't seen his friends in weeks already, so he wasn't all that surprised to hear this.

"It's okay dude, I figured it was a long shot" the blond said glumly.

"No, it's not okay man, me and Hina-chan have blown you off nonstop now for weeks, and it's not cool, I'll make sure to find us all some time next week and we can go out for drinks after binging on pizza, just like old times, oh, and I'll be sure to tell Hiashi that you're going to be my best man today, he's just going to _love_ that one" Kiba said gleefully, he couldn't really outright defy the Hyuuga patriarch, so he settled for pissing the guy off and inconveniencing him in as many ways as he possibly could, so this was like an early wedding gift to him.

"Yeah yeah, just hit me up whenever man, it's not like I got anything else to do with my time now" Naruto said.

"Alright dude, I gotta go get ready for meeting number four-hundred-and-what-the-fuck-ever with the in-laws, wish me luck!" and with that, Naruto was alone with his thoughts once again.

Realizing he'd been driving aimlessly while on the phone with his friend, Naruto took stock of where he was and decided he would just head straight to the bar, he really could use a shower, but he didn't feel like backtracking over this way again afterwards now that he was already nearby.

Circling around the building first Naruto decided to park in the next lot over, the bar itself was already looking pretty congested and Naruto planned on most likely taking a cab home anyways. Once his baby was locked up tight he walked the five minutes over to the bar entrance and strolled right in and up to the bar and took up a stool.

"Gimme two shots of vodka, nothing fancy" He clipped out to the bartender once he got the man's attention. He was here to drown his sorrows, not play Dr. Phil with a bartender at a gay bar, so even though he felt kind of bad about it, he was pretty sure the guy would take the hint.

* * *

A few hours (and three more shots) later and Naruto was resting his chin on his crossed arms atop the bar, and he was beginning to finally feel the fog of inebriation pulling him out of his depressing train of thought when he heard someone take up the stool next to him.

_'Crap… _please_ don't be some creepy self-righteous queen looking for a hook-up' _Naruto prayed desperately, he was _not_ in the mood for that bullshit.

"Give me a vodka martini" he hear the- surprisingly gruff sounding- voice say, followed by "Shaken, not stirred" and with a groan Naruto looked up at the voice.

"You did _not_ just say that" He said, narrowing his eyes and pointing at the obviously older man almost accusingly "Seriously dude? Why not tell the guy you need to phone home too? Or that you don't think you're in Kansas anymore while you're at it?"

The man guffawed at him and turned to face him "Oh please, there is no such thing as over-quoting Sean Connery kid" he said assuredly.

"Well it's a sure-fire way to lose a hook-up if you ask me…. Waaaaaait a minute" Naruto said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the older male "Don't tell me that that lame line was just some convoluted way of getting me to talk to you… Sorry man, but you look like you're a good deal older than me, and I'm not into the whole 'Daddy' thing F.Y.I." he stated.

The other man was quite for a while, looking at Naruto as if he'd been speaking Klingon or something, then he burst into a bellowing laugh, obviously annoying the other nearby patrons, which continued for several seconds until he gathered his wits about him and looked back at Naruto mirthfully, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Sorry to get your hopes up kid, but you've got one too many penises for me to be attracted to you" he said, still cackling every now and then "And honestly, I didn't even realize until now that I was in a gay bar, I was just passing through and decided to stop for the night and grab some drinks at the nearest bar, maybe flirt with some pretty young things, though I obviously have missed the mark there" he said while looking over all the bar's patrons amusedly.

At this point there was a small uproar and some catcalls as a band took to the stage on the other end of the bar, Naruto paid it no mind, he was far more interested in this crazy motherfucker he just found himself in a conversation with, all the same, he could hear bits and pieces of music drifting over towards where they sat, as the two men started chatting amicably about things like Connery vs Moore, and trying to guess the true gender of some of the bar's more… _questionable_ clientele.

* * *

_My compassion is broken now._

_My will is eroded,  
and my desire stolen and it makes me feel ugly.  
I'm on my knees and burning.  
I'm broken, looking up to see the enemy.  
I have swallowed the poison you feed me…  
but I survive on it,  
and it leaves me guilt-fed, hatred-fed, weakness-fed…  
and I feel ugly, and dead inside._

_Shit adds up at the bottom._

* * *

By the time the band had apparently walked off stage, Naruto was considerably more drunk at this point and hadn't even noticed at all. He'd been talking to this guy for god knows how long about all kinds of random shit and totally lost track of time, but more upsetting than that, was the fact that the guy had been keeping up with him shot for shot the entire time, and while Naruto was feeling borderline plastered this guy didn't even look ruffled.

"Dayum dude, what're you? I'm priddy sure the amount of booze we've drunk- dranked- err… shot, could get Jabba the Hutt shitfaced" he giggled at that before putting his "super-serious" face back on "So why you in town anywho? You ne'er even told me yer name" then he paused, having an epiphany "I'm Uzumaki Naruto by the way, _formerly_ employed at WKP-Bunghole Radio, but naaaaaht afder todaaaay" he sing-songed almost happy about it at this point. And without even giving the other man a chance to respond, he starting going off on a tangent, suddenly remembering why he was here drinking in the first place.

"Those asswipes didn' deserve me anyways, I broke my assh doing shit for that dickbag Ebisu, but did I get anything fer it? It don't look like it ta me…" He said irritably, drunken Naruto was prone to extreme mood swings, and it was beginning to weird out his drinking partner considerably.

"Okay okay kid, chill out, I already told you why I was in town today, I was passing through and decided to stop-" he started, but got cut off by the blonde "Ooooooh yeah! You came into a fag bar on acciden' and met me instead, funny how that works ne? Oi! You still never told me your name geezer!" The inebriated blonde pointed out accusingly. Prompting the other to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"I would have Naruto, if you would let me" He said, indicating to the blond to shut up and let the man finish "Now, like I was saying, I decided to stop yes, but not because of what I told you earlier. Truth is, I was listening to WKPB on my way through town this afternoon, and I heard something _quite_ interesting, so I decided to stop and poke into it a little bit and stoke my own curiosity, whod've thought I'd find the guy on my first stop?" He said, watching the blond carefully, he'd already proven to be rather unpredictable, and a revelation like that could spark all sorts of reactions if taken the wrong way.

Naruto seemed stupefied by the older man's admission, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, when suddenly it all seemed to click into place "WHADDAFUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TA MEAN?!" He yelled in disbelief, then he looked off to the side, working this new information over in his booze-addled mind "Tha's why ya came to a gay bar, you were looking for me, duh…" looking back up accusingly he barked out "Well what the fuck do you want from me old man? Didja come ta laugh at me like I'm sure the rest of town is? Well I don' give a fuck, I've 'lready had a fuckin' terrible day, so I doubt anythin' you do could really make it any worse" he said, growing very quiet afterwards.

The other man, for what it was worth, did look guilty for upsetting the blond so much with his carelessness, but the damage was done, so he grinned and patted the brooding boy roughly on the back.

"Now now" he said cheerily "I told you to wait until I was finished, you really gotta learn to stop interrupting me Naruto, I still haven't told you who I am yet…" he said, waiting for the blond to lift his head and meet his own gaze before continuing.

"My name is Jiraiya Sannin, you would probably know me as Gamabunta-" Naruto's eyes practically shot out of their sockets at that, _everyone_ knew who Gamabunta was "- and I'm here to offer you a new job Naruto, how would you like your own radio show?"


End file.
